The Anomaly (The Boy From Messaline)
by A-World-Of-My-Imagination
Summary: Ianto Jones was born an anomaly. It seems he never really shook that description. As property of Torchwood One, all he wants is to be normal. When he catches the eye of the handsome leader of Torchwood Three, danger gives him a high, and he discovers he could be related to Torchwood's Number One Enemy, he realizes normal isn't an option - and that just might not be a bad thing.
1. Chapter 1 - A Strange Beginning

**_The Anomaly (The Boy From Messaline)_**

A-World-Of-My-Imagination

**Warnings:** _References to child abuse/torture/non-con/prostitution (nothing explicit)_, bad attempts at British styles of speech, non-canon in some of the oddest ways possible, plotlines from a strange mind, possible non-compliance to parts of the Doctor Who universe (I only started watching the series a couple months ago on Netflix and I'm only part-way through Season Four, so any knowledge of future episodes is likely to have mistakes), incredibly non-consistent chapter sizes, OOC-ness, pacing? What pacing?

**Disclaimer: **Nothing's mine except the plotline (and even that was inspired by far too many hours reading fan fiction)

**Summary:** Ianto Jones was born an anomaly. It seems he never really shook that description.

**A/N:** I know, I know, this really isn't that great – I came up with the entire plot a few days ago while listening to my iPod on shuffle. I tried to keep characters from being too OOC, but I've only really been in the fandom for a few weeks and I've yet to catch up on either Doctor Who or Torchwood. Also, I wrote most of this story in about three days, and the pacing is something to cringe at. Oh well, though, here it is! I'll do my best to upload a chapter every Tuesday. Enjoy!

* * *

**_Chapter One – A Strange Beginning - Messaline, 6012_**

_"No light, no light in your bright blue eyes_

_I never knew daylight could be so violent_

_A revelation in the light of day_

_You can't choose what stays and what fades away_

_And I'll do anything to make you stay"_

_-"No Light, No Light" – Florence + the Machine_

The ground shook slightly and the strange unit opened. It took a moment for the smoke to clear, revealing a slim blonde woman. She looked around curiously as she stepped out, and when a gun was pressed into her hands she barely even blinked.

The woman glanced up and saw a thin man flanked by two others. "Hello, Dad."

The man stared at her with a slightly furrowed brow. The woman just smiled back until her attention was diverted by a small hand tugging at her pants.

"Hello, there."

One of the men who'd given her the gun swore and the woman vaguely considered the fact that she was too young to be hearing such words. "I hate it when it does this, this has got to be the third time it malfunctioned! It's no use giving him a gun, just leave him be, he'll be gone soon enough."

The small boy – he couldn't be more than four or five - tugged at the woman's trousers once more, then looked up. "Daddy!"

The thin man's expression softened just slightly and he turned to murmur to his companions.

The woman brushed off the boy with a small apologetic smile and followed the men with the guns to a barricade of sorts. "Something's coming!" she announced. Moments later, strange sort-of fish creatures came charging down the hall. Guns sounded on both sides, yelling and gurgling and a loud, childish cry sounding over it all.

"Martha!"

The strange-fish creatures had captured one of the women and the man shouted after her. A scramble for a button, shouting and a swell of frantic footsteps, and it was over.

The woman left behind, trapped by the debris that separated her from her companions, woke to the sound of soft gurgling and quiet cries. She slowly sat up and saw one of the fish creatures and the young boy who'd come out of the machine with the blonde woman. She coughed and scramble-crawled her way over to them. The fish-creature was holding his arm and seemed to be in pain while the boy was half-buried under rubble and seemed to have been caught by some of the blast, if the half-charred state of his shirt was to go by.

"Are you all right?" the woman asked the strange fish creature. He gurgled and looked down at his shoulder. "Oh, that's got to hurt. Can I help?"

The sort-of fish gurgled and the woman took the sound as an approval. She studied his shoulder for a moment and declared it dislocated. "I'm going to put it right, but it'll hurt, yeah?"

The woman pushed the shoulder back into place and the creature gurgled his appreciation after wincing at the pain.

"I've got to help this boy," the woman told the fish-creature carefully. "Try to keep your shoulder still, if you can, don't go swinging it about."

The young boy looked up at the woman with pained eyes. "Hi there. I'm Dr. Martha Jones, I…know your dad. What's your name?"

The young boy bit his lip. "No name."

Martha looked over her patient with worried eyes. The rubble was pushing down on the boy's leg and she could see his skin had been burned, almost blackened in some parts. There was some blood pooling under the child's head - he must have hit it on some of the cement.

"No name? Well, don't worry, we'll fix that up real quick," Martha promised, deciding the best course of action would be to remove the rubble and hope for the best before any more fish-creatures came with guns blazing. Once she found the thin man, the Doctor, she could get the boy into the TARDIS and help him further. "I have a friend named Ianto, he's Welsh, that's, uh, a place on Earth. I come from Earth, it's my planet. What do you think? Ianto?"

The boy winced as Martha moved the rubble but he didn't shout. "I like Ianto."

"Well then, Mr. Ianto, do you think you can be brave and tell me about what's going on here on this planet?"

"There's a war. The Hath and the Humans. It's been forever since it started."

Martha frowned and was about to ask more when a group of fish-creatures – Hath, apparently – marched down the corridor and held their guns to her and Ianto. "Look, I'm not part of the war, I'm just trying to help these two."

The Hath she'd helped nodded and gurgled, presumably telling his comrades she wasn't a threat. Even so, the woman was urged to her feet and nudged down the hall.

"Wait, I can't leave Ianto!" She hurried back and picked up the young boy with care, trying to not move his crushed leg or touch his burned arm. "If you get dizzy, tell me, and don't fall asleep."

Martha and Ianto were marched to a large room containing several more of the machines that had produced Ianto and the blonde woman, along with many Hath. Everything after that happened quickly – a holographic map of the base, or wherever they were, was expanded (the Doctor's doing, no doubt) and the Hath marched off to battle. The Hath Martha had first met (Peck! Ianto had announced) hung back, studying the map. Martha was relieved when her phone rang (it had to be the Doctor, it just had to be) and set down her charge so she could answer it.

"Martha!" The voice on the other end shouted happily and the woman grinned. "Martha, are you all right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Ianto's hurt, though, he needs to get back on the TARDIS soon so I can try to fix him up. He's probably got a concussion, and his leg was smashed under the rubble. He seems to be all right for now, though. You?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm with Donna, we're fine, I-" Martha chuckled as she heard Donna's voice protest over the line. "And, uh, Jenny, the woman from the machine, my, um, the soldier, my, er, daughter. Well, not really, but- sorry, who's Ianto?"

"The other one? Your son?"

"Right, right, that's good, yeah, uh, keep him, er, safe. I guess. Listen, Martha, the army's off towards some sort of temple-"

"The Hath are as well! They all started marching once they saw some map get bigger?"

"Yeah, that was me, sorry. Stay where you are, be care-"

The line cut off and Martha sighed at her useless phone. Peck was still looking at the map, and Ianto was nowhere to be seen. "Ianto?"

A soft gasp alerted the woman to the boy's location and she swirled around to see him with his hand stuck in the machine, struggling to get it out. She swore under her breath and reached in to try to pull out the child's hand. Her own just got stuck as well, though, and moments later the section trapping their hands released to let the duo pull their arms free. Both had a small Y scarred into the back of their hand and looked up when the machine opened and spilled out smoke. A small, dark girl a bit younger than Ianto, two or three, probably, came out and Martha swore again. A gurgle alerted her to Peck's continued study of the map and she turned to see it had become holographic in the moments she'd been captured by the machine.

"Peck, you're brilliant! Oh, look at this! We could just go right over the surface and get there before either army, eh? We have to hurry!"

Peck tried to dissuade the woman with statistics on the hologram but she ignored them. "Look, they aren't ideal, but if I'm fast I'll survive-you want to come with? All right, you brave man, let's get on!"

Martha glanced back at Ianto and the other child who'd come from the machine. They'd have to hurry, neither was dressed well for the weather, but she couldn't leave them behind. "Come on, kids, we've got to hurry."

"Martha, she doesn't have a name, she needs a name," Ianto declared.

Martha hesitated. "Look, we really need to go, come on-"

"Name," Ianto insisted.

"I don't know, Heather, Mary, Ingrid, Sarah, Lisa, Vict-"

"I like Lisa!" Ianto grinned, reminiscent of when he'd gotten his own name. "Do you like Lisa?"

"Lisa!" the toddler clapped.

"Lisa it is, then," Martha agreed. "We really have to go, come on, Peck, can you get Lisa and I'll get Ianto? We need to hurry, they won't do well outside for long."

Peck gurgled his agreement and the group set off. They took care walking across the barren, unfamiliar ground and reached the temple soon enough. Lisa and Ianto were both shivering and nearly blue when they finally got inside.

"He'll be around here, somewhere," Martha said quietly. "I'm sure of it. Just keep your head down, I don't think either army has gotten in yet, but just in case…"

Voices sounded from down the hall, and Martha shifted Ianto to her other hip, away from the sounds of the voices. The woman cautiously peered around the corner and grinned. "Doctor!"

"Martha!" he cried back and rushed over to her. "I knew you wouldn't stay away from the trouble, you never can!"

"Oh, like you're one to talk!" she laughed back. "This is Ianto, Peck is the Hath, and Lisa is, well, there was another incident with one of those funky machines and Ianto ended up with his hand stuck. I tried to get it out and got stuck too, and, well, here you go!"

"Hi Granddad," the smaller child grinned and waved happily.

The Doctor seemed nervous, and he stretched his hand to scratch the back of his neck. "Er, hullo."

"Daddy!" Ianto smiled and held out his arms.

The Doctor hesitated, but obliged the small boy when the red-haired woman, Donna, gave him a smack on his arm. "Go on, then."

"Be careful of his leg and arm," Martha warned. "And don't let him fall asleep, he could have a concussion."

Ianto draped his arm carefully around the Doctor and snuggled into his shoulder. "I'm tired, Daddy."

The Doctor slowly lost his tense edge. "I know, sweetheart, just stay awake a little while longer. We've got to go stop a war, do you want to help us? This is Donna, my friend, and Jenny, she's your, uh, sister."

"Okay," Ianto yawned. "Hi Jenny, hi Donna."

"Ianto," the Doctor smiled slightly. "Ianto's a good name. So is Alonso. What do you say, mister, Ianto Alonso…"

"Jones!" the small boy chimed in. "Like Martha!"

"Ianto Alonso Jones it is, then!"

Pounding sounded from down one of the halls and the Doctor traded a glance with Donna. "Come on, let's go." He set off at a quick pace, being sure to be wary of Ianto's injuries.

The group ended up in a large room full of vegetation, trees and flowers at the peak of their blooms. The Doctor set Ianto down on the ground to look at the flowers and Peck put Lisa next to him. "Look, there's the Source! Ah, it's just a terraforming device. All this war, over this?"

The human and Hath armies burst in from different sides and trained their guns on the group. The Doctor explained the true origins of the Source and the war to the opposing armies, glad to see neither was rejecting the truth. He smashed the terraforming device and started the transformation of the planet – all in all, it was a good day for the Doctor and his companions.

The yell of rage echoed through the large room, bouncing back and forth until it could hardly be told where it began. General Cobb, the man who'd lived his whole life (however short it may have been) with the one purpose of obliterating the Haths, broke away from his position at the front of the human ranks and slammed into the two children who'd somehow wandered off away from the Source's pedestal. The man's momentum shoved the two kids down a rigged crack in the room's floor, and Ianto cried out for the Doctor and Martha as he fell.

The Doctor scrambled to the edge and looked down the zigzagged line. "Ianto! Lisa!"

He didn't get a response. The thin man choked back a sob, not caring that he was collapsed in a heap being stared at by strangers.

He didn't hear the shot. No one did, not in time, at least, no one except Jenny. Her eyes were brimmed with tears, but she noticed what the general was doing and dove in front of the Doctor just as the bullet spiraled forwards. Everything slowed as it hit her in the chest, and she fell back with a gasp. The Doctor caught her, and within seconds (though it seemed a millennia, with the general smiling crookedly and a ragged laugh-cough-laugh spilling out of his throat) several of the humans were holding his arms back and confiscating his gun.

"Jenny?" the Doctor asked, cradling her torso like she was the most precious diamond in the sky. "Jenny, please, please don't go, don't leave me too."

The blonde woman smiled the best she could, eyes growing fuzzy and out-of-focus. "I'm here, Dad."

"Yeah. Yeah, you are," the thin man didn't even try to wipe away the tears on his cheeks. Martha leaned down, choking back her own sobs, and took the woman's pulse. The Doctor glanced at her hopefully, but she shook her head. "Come on, Jenny. We're going to have such great adventures. We'll go see the universe, meet new people, stop wars."

"And run?" she said quietly, her voice weak and trembling.

"Oh yeah, we'll do loads of running. It's going to be amazing. _You're_ going to be amazing. We'll go fetch Ianto and Lisa and have a proper family trip, yeah?"

Jenny smiled. "Yeah, that'll be nice."

"Of course it'll be nice, we're Time Lords, and you're all related to me! Never a not-fun day. Never can be, never will be."

"Dad?" The Doctor leaned down to hear Jenny's words.

"Yeah, sweetheart?"

"Thank you."

The Doctor swallowed. "No, thank you. I couldn't have asked for a better daughter, you're outstanding."

The thin man leaned down and pressed a kiss to Jenny's clammy forehead.

"I love you, Dad," she whispered.

The Doctor held her close, even once he couldn't feel her hearts beating. "I love you, too, Jenny."

Martha took her pulse again and looked at the Doctor. His eyes pleaded with her to give him hope, to promise a happy ending. "If we just wait, give her a little ti-"

"I'm sorry. She'd have already regenerated by now. She was like you, just…not enough."

"No," the thin man shook his head. "Too much."

The general laughed again and the Doctor whirled around, scooping up the abandoned gun as he did. He cocked it and held it against the general's forehead, breathing hard. Everything was silent for a long few moments until he turned away.

"I never would," the Doctor hissed. "I _never would_. Remember that, build your society, human and Hath all together, and remember the man who never would."

The Doctor threw down the gun and sat back down to cradle Jenny's body and stare down into the crack, his voice small and pitiful. "Ianto and Lisa? How…how deep is it?"

The young man they'd first met on the war-ridden world spoke. "Legend says it's a pathway, it runs through the whole base. It's always been here, leading to different worlds, everywhere in the universe. Trouble is, you don't know where you'll end up. Yeah, planets are exciting and all, but's there's an awful lot of dead space out there – you're just as likely to end up there as you are somewhere else. Legend says we've never seen anyone lost to it again, they were just…gone."

"Gone? So…we can't even get their bodies?"

The boy shook his head and the Doctor closed his eyes. The boy knelt down next to the Doctor. "Let us give them proper ceremonies, it'd help us. Please?"

The Doctor hesitated, looking between Jenny and the crack, but finally nodded.

* * *

**_(The TARDIS, Everywhere and Everywhen)_**

"Don't you want to stay for a while, Doctor?" Martha questioned back on the TARDIS. "For the ceremonies?"

The Doctor paused, then looked down at the hand bubbling away on the floor. "They were the reason the TARDIS brought us here. We just…showed up too soon, we created them. A paradox, an eternal paradox." He stared at the TARDIS' console for a long few moments. "Time to go home?"

Martha smiled sadly. "Yeah, home."

* * *

**_(Messaline, 6012)_**

The blonde woman opened her eyes with a gasp and sat up. Within moments, she was gone, headed for the stars.

* * *

**_(London, 1987)_**

"Miss Hartman? A team found a pair of children in the warehouse they were sent to investigate, no parents around."

"Children? What do I care about a pair of lost kids?"

"No, ma'am. They actually have, uh, two heartbeats. We thought you'd want to be the first two know."

"I- yes, Laurence, thank you. Are they here on base?"

"Yes ma'am, in the cells in G8."

"Would you take me there, Laurence? Tell me everything you know, this opens up so many possibilities!"


	2. Chapter 2 - The Early Years

**The Anomaly (The Boy From Messaline)**

A-World-Of-My-Imagination

* * *

**Chapter Two - The Early Years**

_I'm waking up to ash and dust_  
_I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust_  
_I'm breathing in the chemicals_  
_I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus_  
_This is it, the apocalypse_

_-Radioactive, Imagine Dragons_

* * *

**Case Report:** Dr. Laurence Ruther (Senior Researcher, Head of Department of Biology of Alien Specimen)

**Subject:** Finding of Specimens 9287 and 9288

**Date:** 19 August 1987

**Persons Involved: **Team 46 (see file TEAM 46), Dr. Laurence Ruther (Senior Researcher, Head of Department of Biology of Alien Specimens), Paulina Sherman (Junior Researcher), Yvonne Hartman (Director)

Team 46 was on a basic training exercise when they heard crying from a nearby warehouse. Following protocol, they approached and found what appeared to be the forms of two young children. Team leader Danielle Sorson scanned the life forms and found them to be alien. Team 46 returned to base after properly securing the life forms and was sent home after completing their debriefing. Upon investigation of the life forms, it was discovered that both had two heartbeats. Yvonne Hartman was contacted and ordered that the life forms be secured indefinitely until such time it could be determined no threat was posed. The research department has been requested to perform a series of standard tests (outlined in ALIEN THREATS AND PROCEDURES) on the life forms.

**Notes:** Subject 9287's form looks similar to a young Caucasian human male around the age of 48 months. Subject made few sounds except when separated from Subject 9288. Subject 9288's form looks similar to a female human toddler with dark skin around the age of 24 months. Subject screamed and cried for most of encounter.

* * *

**Research Findings Report Summary:** Dr. Laurence Ruther (Senior Researcher, Head of Department of Biology of Alien Species)

**Subject:** Specimens 9287 and 9288

**Date:** 22 August 1987

Specimens have a similar biology to humans, with the exception of two hearts and irregularities in their DNA (will be investigated at a later rate). Examination undertaken by junior researcher Paulina Sherman yielded strange results about the age of the specimens (see RESEARCH FINDINGS: DNA AGE VS. PHYSICAL APPEARANCE). Investigation from Dr. Cathy Marrin (Senior Researcher, Head of Psychology of Alien Specimen) (see RESEARCH REPORT: INITIAL TESTS OF PSYCHOLOGY OF ALIEN SPECIMENS 9287 AND 9288) revealed that both specimen respond to pain when it is introduced and pleasure when given small toys. Further testing is needed to determine vital information about the specimen; however, Specimen 9287 has shown soldier-like instincts when Specimen 9288 is approached – it is recommended Specimen 9287 be treated at a threat for the time being. Specimen 9288 does not appear to be a threat at this time.

* * *

**Summary of Meeting:** Christina Larn (Junior Secretary)

**Subject:** Research and Usage of Specimens 9287 and 9288

**Date:** 23 August 1987

**Persons Involved:** Yvonne Hartman (Director), Dr. Laurence Ruther (Senior Researcher, Head of Department of Biology of Alien Specimens), Dr. Cathy Marrin (Senior Researcher, Head of Department of Psychology of Alien Specimens), Dr. Henry Waydd (Head of Department of Defense, Security, and Protective Attacks Against Alien Threats)

**Decisions Reached: **

Specimen 9288 will be placed with host family and psychologically evaluated on interactions with human world. Information will be compared with human psychology and full access to information will be given to the Department of Defense, Security, and Protective Attacks Against Alien Threats in order for use in creation of weapons to defend the British Empire.

Specimen 9287 will be kept at Torchwood One for extensive study. The Department of Psychology of Alien Species will be responsible for facilitating Specimen 9287 within the boundaries of Torchwood One's base; however, the Department is not allowed to restrict access to the specimen except when a request has been filled out and a need is proven for the specimen to not be otherwise tested.

The Department of Defense, Security, and Protective Attacks Against Alien Threats will create nanobots and a control method to be introduced to Specimen 9287 for the safety of the British Empire and the staff of Torchwood One.

Reevaluation meetings will take place annually and the head of each department will present findings reached.

* * *

**Summary of Research Project:** Dr. Cathy Marrin (Senior Researcher, Head of Department of Psychology of Alien Specimen)

**Subject:** Specimen 9288

**Date:** 18 September 1987

Specimen 9288 was injected with primitive perception filter in first stages of work to disguise the specimen's dual heartbeats. No ill effects have been observed. Specimen 9288 was placed with a family in London on 3 September 1987 (see PLACEMENT AND OBSERVATION OF SPECIMEN 9288. See persons file: THE HALLETTS). The specimen identified as "Lisa" (see aliens file: SPECIMEN 9288 "LISA HALLETT"). The specimen has shown similarities to a human child at the appeared state of development. Specimen 9288 will continue to be observed.

* * *

**To:** cchrichton .uk

**From:** yhartman .uk

**Subject:** Re: Specimen 9287

**Date:** 30 April 1990

Brigadier Crichton,

Your request to borrow Specimen 9287 for six months has been reviewed and approved conditionally. All research that stems from the specimen is to be shared with Torchwood One directly. No permanent damage is to come to the specimen that would make it unusable to the Torchwood Institute in the future. However, our Psychology of Alien Species Department has been conducting research into the specimen's response to pain and it does not seem to be as affected as humans. If UNIT wishes to carry on research in this field, our Psychology of Alien Species Department would be glad to exchange further information on the specimen. The specimen will be delivered to UNIT at the address specified in your request at 09:00 on 5 May 1990 conditional upon UNIT's delivery of the promised information in exchange at the same address at 09:00 on 4 May 1990. A control method has been inserted into the specimen; see the attached document for instructions. The specimen has been marked as Torchwood's and UNIT is expected to be mindful of that fact.

Sincerely,

Yvonne Hartman

Director of Operations

Torchwood One (London)

Torchwood Institute

Founded 1879

* * *

**Reviewed and Summarized Research: **Yvonne Hartman (Director)

**Subject:** Specimen 9287

**Date:** 12 January 1993

Specimen 9287 has shown remarkable resilience to pain and doesn't react to verbal insults. The settings on the control method have been increased appropriately. Specimen has evidenced genius level intellect and when physically tested has out-performed Torchwood One's best-trained agents. The specimen has shown slight hindrance from injuries sustained on its right leg before found by Torchwood One, as well as from injuries obtained while at Torchwood One. However, the specimen has evidenced that it can work around these injuries with practice and performance levels soon return to usual after given time to work on obstacle course. Specimen has accelerated healing at about three times the rate of humans. Specimen has shown high ability to be trained when threatened with the safety of Specimen 9288, though has also shown a rebellious nature at times. Samples of the specimen's DNA have been taken and analyzed (see RESEARCH REPORT: DNA OF SPECIMEN 9287). The Department of Psychology of Alien Species has requested that Specimen 9287 be placed with different type of human family for comparison with the findings on Specimen 9288 (see RESEARCH REPORT: PLACEMENT AND OBSERVATION OF SPECIMEN 9288). A trail period of two years has been approved with the possibility of extension. A family has been chosen in Wales (see persons file: THE WILLIAMS).

**Director's Notes:** The training of Specimen 9287 has been quite remarkable and has shown a possibility of use for future aliens attempting to infiltrate the British Empire. The specimen has been taught to address every human with "sir" or "ma'am" and carries out tasks given quickly and efficiently. Future aliens, if trained properly like Specimen 9287, could further the British Empire by serving as butlers or completing menial tasks (such as paperwork and coffee) in place of valuable humans. Also, Specimen 9287 doesn't react strongly to injury sustained physically or verbally, making it and future aliens ideal as soldiers to prevent loss of human life.

* * *

**Incident Report Summary:** Yvonne Hartman (Director)

**Subject:** Specimen 9287

**Date:** 14 August 1997

**Persons Involved:** Specimen 9287, Rhiannon Williams (civilian, see persons file: THE WILLIAMS), Culhwch Williams (civilian, see persons file: THE WILLIAMS), Research and Observation Team 9, Dr. Cathy Marrin (Senior Researcher, Head of Department of Psychology of Alien Specimen), Yvonne Hartman (Director)

Culhwch Williams unexpectedly died on 11 June 1997, leaving behind daughter Rhiannon Williams (20) and Specimen 9287. Specimen 9287, when not directly contacted by Torchwood (under order of Yvonne Hartman [Director] and Dr. Cathy Marrin [Senior Researcher, head of Department of Psychology of Alien Psychology]), asked Rhiannon Williams for temporary housing and support. Rhiannon Williams refused and Specimen 9287 stayed in Cardiff for three days before it got on a bus and went to London. When still not contacted by Torchwood, the specimen slept on the streets for several days and resumed work as a sex worker (see file: OBSERVATIONS OF SPECIMEN 9287'S PLACEMENT WITH HUMAN FAMILY). On 12 July 1997 the specimen obtained a low-paying job (below minimum wage) at a coffee shop. On 29 July 1997 the specimen rented a small one-room flat (see file: OBSERVATIONS OF SPECIMEN 9287'S INDEPENDENT LIVING) with the money from the coffee shop and its work as a sex worker. The landlord agreed to overlook the specimen's age in return for the specimen's services as a sex worker. Specimen 9287 seems to be doing well in the new environment and adjusted readily (this further evidences possible usefulness as an agent for Torchwood). Observations will continue until the specimen is brought back to Torchwood for further research.

**Director's Notes:** The specimen did not seem overly upset at the death of Culhwch Williams. This could be because of a difference of psychological emotions or because of the treatment sustained under Culhwch Williams. The specimen was made to be a sex worker and be a go-between for drug dealing. Also, the specimen was severely beaten by Culhwch Williams, especially after the man had had a lot to drink. Further investigation will take place. (See file: OBSERVATION OF SPECIMEN 9287'S PLACEMENT WITH HUMAN FAMILY for more information for study of psychological reactions.)

* * *

**(London, 2000)**

A soft bell rang and a door opened. Four figures clad in nondescript clothing came in the door and approached the counter. The boy wiping down the counters in the otherwise empty shop glanced up and smiled. "Hello, welcome to Christy's Coffee, what can I get for you today?"

"Ianto Williams?" One of the figures asked.

The boy frowned. "Who asks?"

"Torchwood. You need to come with us."

The boy paused, then responded reproachfully, "And if I refuse?"

"We have orders to bring in either Specimen 9287 or 9288, one or the other. I'm sure one of you can be…persuaded."

"Yes, sir," the boy said after a pause, his head hung to the floor. "I…apologize for my disobedience, sir."

The figures left the coffee shop with the boy following and entered a car parked along the street. A minute later, every bit of evidence from their collection had been wiped, and they were gone.

* * *

"Ianto Williams. Or do you prefer Jones?"

The boy didn't look up from the floor. "Either is fine, ma'am."

The woman smiled from behind her desk. "Specimen 9287, always the pleaser. Have a seat. We have some…business to discuss."

"Yes ma'am."

The Torchwood director opened a file on her desk. "You've had quite the experience since you left Cardiff. How's business going?"

The boy didn't respond, still staring at the floor from his tense seated position.

"Touchy subject. All right, then, let's get to the point of why I called you here. I'm sure you haven't forgotten that you belong to Torchwood. Any so-called 'freedom' you experience is but observation opportunities for us. As such, other departments now have use for you, hence the reason you're here. You see, half of our chemical research team was killed in an explosion last month, it was tragic. We seem to lose quite a few staff to chemical accidents each year. You, however, have proven to have genius-level intellect at subjects such as chemistry. We're putting you on an independent team to work on some of our more volatile projects. We've also observed your…capabilities, shall we say, that could be used in the field. We'll be using you for missions that require a certain caliber of talent. Between the missions and the research, you'll have a full time job here at Torchwood. Of course, you can't be on the payroll, we own you. We were originally going to bring you back to Torchwood full time so we'd always have access to you for experiments and for your wonderful coffee and…company. However, I've thought it over and have decided to let you continue your job at the coffee shop, if you so choose. Your permanent residence will once again be Torchwood, of course, but the psychology team has completed the observations they need from you in that particular setting. Living on your own, I mean. Also, as a little gift from me to you, we'll stop our observations of Specimen 9288, "Lisa Hallett", as she calls herself, should you cooperate. She'll be allowed to live as a human, with no interference from Torchwood, but only so long as you stay on your best behavior. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am. Thank you, ma'am."

"You may go now. Your old room has been set back up for you, and the Psychology department has some preliminary tests they'd like to begin right away."

The boy nodded and left the room, his head hung low in defeat but his eyes glinting with determination. He wouldn't let Torchwood hurt Lisa; he'd make sure they kept their promise if it was all he ever did.


	3. Chapter 3 - A Man Called Jack

**The Anomaly (The Boy From Messaline)**

A-World-Of-My-Imagination

* * *

**Chapter Three – A Man Called Jack**

_Show me what it's like_

_(To be the last one standing)_

_And teach me wrong from right_

_(And I'll show you what I can be)_

_And say it for me, say it to me_

_And I'll leave this life behind me_

_Say it if it's worth saving me_

_- Savin' Me, Nickleback_

* * *

** (London, 2001)**

Torchwood never did change, Ianto decided. It had been a long year since he'd been picked back up by the institute; the hours were awful and the missions were either boring beyond belief or nearly fatally dangerous. He had been allowed to keep his coffee shop job, like Yvonne had promised. Sometimes, he thought it was the only thing keeping him sane in the crazy, cruel world of Torchwood (though every once in a while, he found himself running or helping people or confronting a dangerous alien and got a sort of high, and a faded memory of a thin man came to his mind).

The one shining light in his otherwise misery-filled days (when he wasn't on a mission, with that strange, strange feeling) was meeting Lisa again. She'd wandered into the coffee shop while he was on the night shift (why the shop was open twenty-four hours, Ianto didn't know, but he never questioned the manager because nights were the only time he could work). The girl, looking fifteen or sixteen, had come in more than a little tipsy and didn't want to go home and face her parents, as it was hours past her curfew. Ianto had eventually convinced her that they were likely more worried than angry at that moment, and called the Halletts to explain. He promised to get her home after she'd had a few cups of coffee and could handle the walk back. Ianto had taken the opportunity to get to know her and, when his shift finally ended at four, had bundled her up in his coat against the pouring rain and walked her back to her house. The Halletts were relieved and invited the boy back for dinner the next week. He'd tentatively accepted, hoping he'd be allowed out. (He was, after doing a few favours, and went back every few weeks and became a close family friend to the Halletts. He never told Lisa or her parents who he was, though; she'd just been set free from Torchwood and he wanted to do all he could to distance her from the institute that owned him.)

Currently, the boy was standing in the back of a meeting about a new bit of technology Torchwood's finest chemist had created. The man taking the glory for the creation was smiling under the attention, slipping in proud mentions of how easy the process had been, really; with the right mind, it really wasn't difficult at all. Ianto held back a scoff – it really _hadn't _been that hard to create, though the man hadn't even been involved. No - the project had been Ianto's, and Yvonne hadn't even requested it. The boy had just been working on compounds that would make missions easier. If he could just question witnesses and they'd forget afterwards things would be much simpler, as now every agent was forced to go on the sly and waste valuable manpower on coming up with a story to persuade the citizens nothing abnormal had occurred. It was especially a hindrance for Ianto, the one-man team, so he'd created Compound B67, or Retcon, as he'd jokingly dubbed it. The head of the chemist department had immediately taken the credit, not that Ianto had expected anything else.

The meeting was about the pros and cons of making Retcon standard issue for every agent. Not that there was a question; really, the gathering was about showing off in front of the other heads of department and Torchwood branches. Most of the attendees were doing exactly what was wanted of them; they fawned appropriately over the chemist and Yvonne for coming up with the idea. The only one not participating in the flattery was leaning back in his chair, looking through his folder and nodding approvingly. Every once in a while, he glanced between the folder with the information on the Retcon and the chemist with a skeptical look. One time, he even gave the scoff Ianto so wanted to make, though all the man got was an annoyed glare from several other Torchwood employees.

* * *

"More coffee, sir?" Ianto offered the man. Yvonne had told the boy to stay back while she and the chemist brought the meeting attendees down to the lab 'where it all started'. The man in the greatcoat had stayed behind in the room, still looking through the folder.

"That'd be great."

The boy poured the coffee and settled in for an awkward wait, though it was nothing he wasn't used to, having served coffee at more meetings than he cared to recount.

The man suddenly spun around his swivel chair to look at Ianto. "Do they really expect us to believe that guy made this?"

"That's the story, sir," the boy said neutrally.

"But I know him, he can't tell a beaker from a test tube! And this, well, this is brilliant! Whoever thought of this must have been a genius, but it's so easy to recreate, the supply would never run out!" The man glanced back at the folder, then up at Ianto again. He straightened up in his chair and flashed a smile. "I'm Captain Jack Harkness, by the way, leader of the one-man camp that's Torchwood Three right now, and who are you?"

Ianto paused. Normally, the response he'd be expected to give would be 'Specimen 9287, sir', but did Yvonne want Torchwood Three to try to requisition him, as UNIT had done? He settled on the safer answer, in the end; if Yvonne was upset, it would be easier to change his name to a number than take away the man's knowledge. "I'm Jones, sir. Ianto Jones."

"Well then, Jones, Ianto Jones, what do you do here at One, other than make amazing coffee?"

"I'm a junior researcher, sir, and I help with the paperwork."

"Paperwork, huh? Nothing kills a day like it."

"Oh, it's not that bad, sir," Ianto gave a small smile. "That is, so long as you know what you're doing and you stay on top of it."

The man raised his eyebrows and started to make a lewd comment when Ianto pressed his hand to his ear. "Yes. ma'am. Yes, I'll be right there. Yes. ma'am. Thank you, ma'am." The boy turned to the man apologetically.

"Duty calls?"

"Yes, sir."

The man paused. "I'll see you around? I'll probably have to come to a lot more of these, now that I'm in charge of Three."

Ianto smiled. "Then yes, sir." He started out of the room, then paused. "I like the coat, by the way."

* * *

**(London, 2002)**

"You asked for me, ma'am?"

Ianto stood in Yvonne's office as the woman finished up on her computer. As he waited, his mind wandered. A little over a year had passed since he'd first met Captain Jack Harkness. True to his word, the man had indeed come to Torchwood One several times since that first encounter, sometimes for meetings and other times because he 'thought he'd been sent a memo and decided to come see what it was about'. The young man had run into the leader of Torchwood Three every time, whether by chance or because the man had sought him out to ask a question. Ianto was bewildered by the Torchwood Three leader – most of the questions could have been answered by anyone on staff, yet he still made time to seek him out and then to coerce him into a short conversation.

"Ianto?"

The young man blinked and jerked back to reality. "Oh, I-I'm sorry, ma'am, I didn't mean to…"

"Just don't do it again. So Ianto, how are you?"

The alien hesitated before he answered. "I'm well, ma'am, thank you for asking. How…are you, ma'am?"

"Oh, I'm great. The reason I brought you here is to tell you about an…opportunity that came up. I'm afraid Captain Harkness at Torchwood Three has been having trouble completing his paperwork since he took over as leader. I sent him an email telling him I'd be sending down an assistant to keep him on track. I was originally going to send Nancy, you know her, don't you? but then I talked it over with your Psychology team and we decided to send you instead. I'm sure you must miss Wales, having family there and all, and the team would like to see how you function with interactions now as compared to when you were younger. Of course, we'll still need you for missions at times, though we'll try to only call you in for ones that require your ability. We won't be telling the captain about your…status, however. We're interested in seeing how his interactions with you vary with and without the knowledge. That means, then, that you won't have someone directly overseeing your control method. Don't forget you belong to Torchwood, and don't mistake this for freedom. The research team assigned to you will send you reminders whenever they feel you've begun to forget. Do you understand?"

Ianto nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. A car is waiting upstairs to take you to Cardiff, and a bag has been packed with the contents of the room you've been staying in. I'll be seeing you, Ianto."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am."

Ianto stood at the dismissal and quickly exited the room.

* * *

"Wait here. He'll be out to collect you soon."

The driver slammed his door shut and Ianto glanced around the abandoned Plass. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

The night was a chilly one, the young man decided as he found a bench to sit on. His shoulder twinged slightly and he sighed. Would the older man be happy to see him or would he be upset someone from One was on his staff?

His musings were cut short when he saw a man run out of a tourist shop towards the park nearby. He would recognize that coat anywhere – Ianto left his Torchwood-emblazoned bag by the bench and took off after him. When he caught up, the man was wrestling with the creature (a Weevil, his mind supplied) and seemed to be losing. Ianto quickly grabbed a fallen branch and began to hit the Weevil to distract the violent alien. It worked, though the Weevil was nearly on top of him moments later. He'd resigned himself to a miserable face full of bites and scratches (and Weevil marks always lasted a while for him; nearly a week, at times) when the other man tackled the Weevil and subdued it.

"Thank you, sir," Ianto said nervously.

"No, thank you. Though I had it under control," Jack said, standing and brushing off his coat.

"I'm sure you did, sir. Weevils can be quite nasty, though."

The man frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about. Who are you?"

Ianto smiled a little. "Jones, sir. Ianto Jones."

"Oh, Jones, Ianto Jones from One! I thought I recognized your voice! What are you doing in Cardiff?"

"Well, sir, apparently Yvonne feels you need assistance in the paperwork department."

Jack laughed. "Well, she would be right there. Give me a hand with this guy, would you?"

The pair hefted the Weevil back to the Plass and into the run-down tourist shop the younger man had seen Jack come charging out of earlier.

"Leave him here, he'll be knocked out for a few hours yet. I'll show you the tourist's entrance to the Hub, you've got to use the lift the first time."

Ianto followed Jack out to the Plass (grabbing his bag while he was there) and onto a section of the ground. He glanced at the older man in confusion for a moment, then startled slightly when the ground started sinking. Jack wrapped an arm around his shoulder and laughed as Ianto looked around in wonder. The Hub was huge and magnificent - though it could do with some tidying up, he noted.

"This is, well, brilliant, sir," Ianto commented as the lift came to a stop.

Jack stepped off and Ianto followed suite. "Why don't you to drop the 'sir'? Just call me Jack; 'sir' gives the illusion that I'm a mature and responsible adult, all of which are titles I refuse."

"Sorry si-Jack. This really is amazing, though."

Ianto let the smug-looking Jack give him a tour of the Hub. When he saw the state of the Archives and the mounds of paperwork piled up by the filing cabinets, he'd nearly had a hearts attack – he'd turned and nearly chewed the other man out for his lack of organization. He'd only gotten a few words in when he saw the Torchwood symbol emblazoned on the wall and cut off with an apology. Jack had just laughed, though, and said he deserved it; he'd not so much as looked at any of it in over a year.

"Do you have anywhere to stay, then?" Jack asked a while later. He'd ordered pizza and Ianto was hesitantly picking at it. Jack had laughed when he saw, _it's just pizza, it won't kill you, go ahead and eat it_! The younger man had complied, but still felt nervous at the Torchwood employee's good will.

"Not…exactly, si-Jack," Ianto slowly said. "I'll figure something out, though."

"At this time of night? You can just stay at the Hub, the couch pulls out into a bed."

Ianto blinked, confused at the kindness again. "Thank you, s-Jack. I don't want to be any trouble, though, I really can figure something out."

"Come on, the Hub isn't that bad, I live here! At least stay for tonight," Jack encouraged.

"I guess one night couldn't hurt," Ianto finally relented. "Then I can get started on the paperwork first thing."

"Great! I'll just get it set up for you, then I'm off to bed myself."

"Thank you, again."

Jack laughed. "No, thank you! The paperwork's about ready to take over the entire Hub, anyone who can tame that beast is a hero in my eyes, and certainly worth offering a place to stay, at minimum!"

* * *

Ianto had nightmares that night. He dreamed of Weevils and ohlookit'ssaddoesn'titlooksadwhydon'twemakeithappy it'lllikeitsicklittlealien and taunts and clanking metal men and pleasepleasepleasedon'tmakemeplease and prisons and a fall through a crack and nononoIdidn'tmeantoplease a strange thin man _keephimuhsafeIguess_ and screaming angry metal shapes and yellingscreaminghittinghurtingpleasestopplease and a man who died again and again and again. He had nightmares every night, but tonight was different. A soothing voice cut through the darkness, _it's okay, Ianto, I've got you, it's okay_, and a large hand combed through his hair, but not in the rough way, in a kind, comforting way. For the first time he could remember, the young man sunk into a peaceful sleep and dreamed instead of a little girl named Lisa and a blonde woman and one with red hair and the thin man and _IantoAlonsoJones_ and still, still, the man who died again and again and again.


	4. Chapter 4 - First Mission in Cardiff

**The Anomaly (The Boy From Messaline) **

A-World-Of-My-Imagination

* * *

**Chapter Four – First Mission in Cardiff**

_"With a thousand lies and a good disguise_

_Hit 'em right between the eyes, hit 'em right between the eyes_

_When you walk away, nothing more to say_

_See the lightning in your eyes, see 'em running for their lives" _

_- "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" The Offspring_

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty."

Ianto started at the voice and nearly sloshed coffee all over his hands. He spun and looked at the clock. "I'm sorry, sir, I didn't realize I'd slept so late, I-"

"I was joking, Ianto, it's fine, really. And it's _Jack_."

The young man turned red at his overreaction and thrust out the mug in his hands. "I made you coffee."

"You're a Godsend," Jack took the offered mug and took a long sip. "Your coffee is the best thing I've ever tasted, and that's saying a lot. Have I told you about this one alien I met at a bar on-"

An alarm sounded, interrupting Jack's story. "What's that?" Ianto asked.

"Rift alarm. Up and at 'em, time to get your first hands-on training at Torchwood Three. Have you been on the field before? Do you know how to use a gun?"

Ianto froze. How much was he supposed to let the captain know? "I've done a bit on the field. I'm decent at it. And I've not shot a gun before, never allowed."

"Good enough," Jack decided, grabbing a gun out of a drawer in the kitchen (and why there was a gun stashed there, Ianto didn't know, he just started a mental list of Items to be Cautious of When Cleaning the Hub) and putting it in the other man's hands. "That's the safety, it's already loaded, just aim and pull the trigger."

Somehow, Ianto figured safety rules were being ignored, but decided not to comment. "So whatever came through is probably dangerous?"

"Not necessarily. It could be anything - a hoard of man-eating aliens or a kid's toy from a thousand years from now. I'm trying to get a program together that'll track the Rift readings and give a hint as to what might have come through, but the technology I need doesn't exist yet." The man moved to look at one of the large computer screens, finishing off his coffee as he did so. "It's a bit far away, let's take the SUV."

Ianto nodded and grabbed Jack's greatcoat to help him shrug it on. Thankfully, he'd already dressed (He only owned a few outfits, so there was never much of a problem deciding what to wear.) and was ready to go.

* * *

When the pair arrived at the scene, they saw a blowfish-like alien with a gun holding a dozen people hostage. The police were already at the scene, and Ianto noticed they seemed relieved to let Torchwood take a shot at it (though the officers didn't seem all that thrilled to be dealing with Jack). Ianto surveyed the scene and closed his eyes for a moment to concentrate on the situation.

One of the many things that made him the best at what he did was his slight psychic ability. He'd always had it, a sort of sense about intent and whatnot, but the psychologists at One had stretched and trained and prodded his ability, and they'd found a spot of not-quite-full-blown-Rift where they'd put his room. Information of a thousand worlds had seeped into his mind and stuck there. Now, he could look into someone's eyes and tell their thoughts, and could skim over a situation to get a leg-up over any sort of confrontations. On his own, he'd practiced shutting away all the strange worlds and times and knowledge swirling around in his brain. It drove the young man absolutely mad sometimes, but he couldn't get it to go away; he just got to the point where he could shove it to the back of his mind and ignore it, for the most part. Even so, his mind whirled a thousand times faster than anyone else he'd met; he still had to monitor his speech to make sure he slowed down enough to hold a conversation. Other times, he had a strange sense of knowledge about anything and everything, the result of which ended up being creations such as Compound B67. The Archives at One had been a second nature to him, since he could analyze a million different possibilities for the usage of items and something in his mind niggled and told him all he needed to know.

The situation was more serious than either the police or Jack thought, Ianto realized. He shut out the fear of everyone in the situation except the alien with the gun. The blowfish didn't have anything to lose, having been stranded on Earth, and couldn't be bargained with, as the others were planning to do. In fact, the alien's finger was taught on the trigger and trained on a woman with a young toddler who was keeping the blowfish preoccupied. Just a fraction of a centimeter, with the speed and gun the blowfish had, and the whole lot of hostages could be shot and killed before the police even knew what was going on.

Ianto didn't think, he just gave into the natural instincts he'd always had and jumped over the yellow tape, effortlessly navigating the debris that had resulted from a bomb the blowfish had set off earlier. Within seconds, he was behind the blowfish and locked eyes with the woman. Ianto nodded in response to her nonverbal plea, then was flooded with a sudden overtaking of panic, coming from the blowfish – the fish-like alien had noticed him. The young man used the blowfish's moment of discomposure to tackle the alien to the ground and slam his head against the hard floor. The alien slumped, clearly unconscious, and Ianto glanced around to see if he'd missed any other danger.

He had – a second blowfish came out of hiding and shot the first dead. Quickly, Ianto grabbed the gun Jack had given him and trained it on the second blowfish as the alien moved his gun towards the hostages.

"Why'd you do that?" Ianto demanded. "Why'd you kill him, weren't you working together? Why do you have hostages?"

"We have nothing left to lose. We will die this day," the blowfish spat.

Ianto sensed the pulling of the trigger rather than saw it, and shot the alien in the arm. The blowfish's first bullet ricocheted away from the hostages, but fish-like creature wasn't deterred by the gunshot wound in his arm.

"That was your only warning. Drop the gun or I'll shoot to kill," Ianto threatened.

The blowfish responded by sending two quick shots at Ianto. As he did, Ianto fired back, straight into the alien's head, killing him instantly. Immediately, he closed his eyes and sensed for another threat – how had he missed second blowfish? He'd do better next time, he had to. He breathed a sigh of relief - they were safe.

"Are you all right?" he turned to the hostages. "You're safe now, you're good."

"What were those things?" a man demanded angrily, standing up and studiously ignoring the dark wet spot on his pants. "Who're you? Do you work with those creatures?"

"Shut up, Joe," a woman scolded – the same woman who'd been distracting the blowfish earlier. She approached Ianto with her toddler in her arms and frowned. "You're bleeding. Badly. You were shot, you need medical help."

For the first time, Ianto realized the burning pain in his shoulder and side, but he ignored it. He'd been shot plenty of times while at One; this was no different.

"Don't worry, I was just grazed," he lied. "Most of this belongs to them." Ianto raised his voice so all the hostages could hear him. "If you all wouldn't mind exiting the building in an orderly fashion? Thank you very much. Take these pills before you go, there might have been chemicals in the air, these'll knock off any dangerous effects. Take them now, that's best, thank you." The young man waited until he saw the group take the pills he'd just passed out. They all had dazed expressions on their faces and looked confused.

"You were all hostages in an attack, dangerous chemicals were involved, you've been given medication to prevent any ill effects. It's best if you all just head home," he continued. "Drowsiness is a side effect of the medicine, I'm afraid. Go ahead and exit the building, if you would, the police are out there and the situation is being handled. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, you were all very brave."

The young man watched as the group wandered outside, then turned to the woman with the toddler still standing beside him, two pills in the woman's free hand. "Ma'am?"

"Thank you for what you did," the woman said. "I don't need this. I know about Torchwood. I'm Alice, by the way, and this is Steven."

"I'm Jones," the young man said uncertainly. "Ianto Jones."

She paused. "This may sound strange, but if you'd like to come over for supper sometime, we'd be glad to have you. Heroes never get the thanks they deserve. Here's my number, we have lasagna on Saturday nights. Thanks again, hopefully I'll see you soon. Say goodbye, Steven."

"Bye!" the toddler waved eagerly, then the two followed the others out the exit.

Ianto stared speechless after the woman and her son (should he have forced them to take the Retcon?), then turned his attention to the scene in front of him. They'd have to take the bodies and do a general cleanup, Ianto decided. It wouldn't do to have alien DNA getting in the wrong hands. The reconstruction could be taken care of by the police, however they chose to handle that particular responsibility.

The young man turned when he heard footsteps pounding into the room, and very suddenly he found hands grabbing onto his shoulders and touching his arms and chest and everywhere, as though the owner of the hands was making sure he was real.

"Jack, I'm fine," Ianto protested.

Jack's voice was rough. "You're hurt."

"Yeah," the young man admitted. "I was shot. It's not that bad though-"

The captain's hands were at it again, pulling at the blood-soaked black jacket until Ianto's chest was visible. "Ianto, you were shot! There's so much blood, that's-you're going to go into shock, you've lost so much blood, yo-"

"It's not the first time, I've always survived. Besides, I heal fast. I'm not even bleeding anymore. Give it a week and I'll just have scars. It's a One thing."

"But Ianto-wait, why do you have so many scars? Ianto?"

Ianto swallowed at the raw confusion and fear in the older man's tone, so he lowered his voice. "Look, I can explain, I'll tell you later, yeah? I can get this cleaned up if you want to go deal with the police?"

Jack shook his head. "I can do cleanup, I don't want you doing anything manual, no matter how fast you say you heal. Can you go talk with the police instead? I think they're about done with me."

The alien nodded his agreement. "Sure, yeah. Do they need Retcon or-?"

Jack shook his head. "They're good, just tell them it's a Torchwood thing, they'll leave it be, after a bit of grumbling."

Ianto nodded his understanding and went to go talk with the police.

"Ianto, wait," Jack called a moment later. "You've got blood all over, they're going to ask all sorts of questions and it'll be harder to get them off our back." The older man shrugged off his greatcoat and threw it to Ianto. "Wear that. It can hide the worst of it."

Ianto complied, pulling on the coat with a slightly bemused expression. It smelled like Jack, he noted absently as he went outside.

* * *

Many of the police cars had left already, presumably to take the hostages back to their homes. Gazing over the scene, Ianto's attention snapped to the policewoman who seemed to be in charge. He strode over to her with a small smile and shook her hand.

"Hello, ma'am, my name is Ianto Jones and I'm representing Torchwood. Firstly, my apologies about the Captain's behavior. He can be…well, I'm sure you know."

The dark-haired woman returned his handshake and smiled. "I like you better already. So, this is going to be the usual 'It's a Torchwood thing, leave it alone', I presume?"

Ianto smiled apologetically. "I'm afraid so. I _can_ tell you that this was usual hostage situation, just with…unusual participants. Twelve hostages, two men with guns, and an ill-planned execution of the situation they hoped for. The perpetrators won't be a problem anymore. We'll take care of the cleanup of the bodies, would you arrange the rest? There's rubble and all that, but it seems to be stable, no risk of collapse."

"I'll get right on that. Is that the Captain's coat, by the way?"

The young man glanced down – he'd forgotten he was wearing the greatcoat. "Er, yeah. It is."

The woman laughed and shook his head. "He must like you an awful lot. I've known Captain Jack Harkness for two years, and never once has he let anyone wear his coat. You must be something right special to him. Are you crazy enough to date him?"

Ianto found himself flushing red. "We aren't dating. I've only known him for a bit more than a year. He's just my boss."

"If you say so. Tell the Captain I refuse to deal with him anymore now he has you on staff."

"Will do, ma'am. I should go help him clean up. Thank you for your understanding with this situation."

After the woman made her goodbyes, Ianto detoured to the SUV to move it as close to the scene as possible and went to go help Jack finish up.

* * *

"Do I even want to know?" Jack broke the silence in the SUV as they drove back to the Hub.

Ianto sighed, then stared out the window for a long few moments. "Probably not."

Silence took hold again, a heavy weight hanging above them.

"Will you tell me anyway?"

The young man bit his lip and didn't respond for a long while. A phantom pain in his shoulder stung harshly, but he ignored it. He knew when it was real, it was some of the only pain that stopped him short, brought him to his knees and rendered him incapable of thinking. If Yvonne, or anyone from One found out he'd told Jack anything, he'd be brought straight back, locked up and tortured with no chance of getting out.

There was also Lisa to consider – last he'd talked to her, she'd been looking at universities. She and her best friend Martha, who had skipped a year in school and was the only one who could keep up with Lisa's quick mind and wit, were hoping to go to the same one, though Martha was also considering medical school. Whenever she talked about Martha, something in Ianto lit up with recognition, something distant and far off, a memory lingering just outside his grasp. Would Torchwood follow through on their threat to bring her back in if he didn't follow instructions?

Who was he kidding, Ianto sighed. Of course they would. They're Torchwood. Still…Yvonne _had_ said One wanted to observe his interactions with Jack and the outside world (and wasn't it sad that that was how he thought of it?) without them having the knowledge of what he was. If he told the older man an altered version of events, if he made sure to not let too much slip, if he was careful every second of everyday, then maybe, just maybe…

"I can't tell you much. I've been a part of One for years. I was a part of an…experiment, and I heal really fast."

"You act like you're not even hurt."

"Yeah, that's…I can ignore injuries when they're not too bad. I've had a limp all my life, but I'm good at just working with it. Same with everything else, it's not that bad."

Jack shook his head, disbelief on his features. "I thought you said you did the paperwork."

"I do. I'm just…naturally good at other stuff, too."

"Even shooting a gun? You were dead accurate, and you said you'd never been allowed?"

"Just another one of those things, I suppose," Ianto said. His mind dredged up old flickering flashes of a blonde woman with a gun and a group of fish-people (Hath, his mind supplied) and a thin man and a nice doctor woman and a long, long fall.

"Next time, wait for me to go charging in though, okay?" Jack said after a while. "I get that there's a lot more to you than meets the eye, and I get that you can't tell me everything, but I need you to be more careful. What if you had died in there?"

Ianto shrugged. "Then I'd have died."

Ianto started as the SUV was wretched towards the side of the road. A couple cars honked angrily as Jack slammed the car to a stop and turned in his seat to glare at the younger man.

"Don't you dare say that, Ianto Jones."

Ianto furrowed his brow, confusion etched on his face. "Jack, what-"

"Don't you dare act like it wouldn't be a big deal if you died."

"But it wouldn't be, I mean, One would upset that they lost their- and besides, at least the hostages would have been safe, they're way more important."

"You're all important, you just the same as everyone else."

"But I'm not," Ianto tried to make Jack understand. "I'm really not, Jack. I can't tell you why, but if you knew…"

"If I _knew_ I'd still think the same thing. Just…you're _important_, Ianto, and you should know that. I don't know what's up with One, but…don't get yourself killed? For me?"

The young man opened his mouth, ready to try to get his point across, but as he looked at Jack's tense and pleading expression, he sighed. "I'll do my best."

Jack looked at him for a long while, then sighed and pulled back onto the road. "We should get you cleaned up at the Hub."

"Yeah," Ianto agreed, then went back to staring out the window.


	5. Chapter 5 - A Series of Events

**_The Anomaly (The Boy From Messaline)_**

A-World-Of-My-Imagination

* * *

**_Chapter Five - A Series of Events_**

_"You swore and said,_

_"We are not,_

_We are not shining stars"_

_This I know,_

_I never said we are_

_Though I've never been through hell like that_

_I've closed enough windows to know you can never look back"_

_-"Carry On" - FUN._

* * *

Jack hadn't asked any more questions, much to Ianto's relief. Sometimes, the young man found the captain looking at him curiously, but it was a different sort than he was used to, tinged with something fond rather than cruel and calculating. Three weeks had passed since the Roguish Blowfish Situation, as Ianto had dubbed it. There had been just four Rift alerts since then, though the pair had headed out to apprehend Weevils that left the sewers several times as well.

Ianto had gotten a lot done in that time. He'd made a sizable dent in the unintelligible mess that the Hub had been – all the food lying around had been cleared up and he'd hauled all the alien artifacts down to the Archives. He'd glanced around the Archives when he was down there, and had immediately created a system in his mind, ready to be implemented as soon as he got the time to sort through the hundred years of neglect. He'd also nearly caught up on the mounds of paperwork waiting to be finished and filed. All in all, he'd had an accomplished few weeks.

For the first time since he could remember, Ianto felt – what was the word? – relaxed. He was safe in the Hub; Jack had shown him the security systems and bragged that not even a fly could get in without the Hub alarm sounding and alerting them to its appearance. The young man had reached out as well he could with his mind to see if One had found a way past. He'd gleamed disappointment and frustration from the two assigned to him – a good sign, it meant they likely hadn't managed to get anything in the Hub. Without the threat of slipping up hanging over his head every second, Ianto didn't have to watch his every word and movement, something which he hadn't realized he'd stressed over so much until then.

Somehow, between the coffee and the Weevil hunting and the long hours in the Hub, Ianto and Jack had become friends. Good friends, even, and maybe a bit more. Oh, Ianto knew he was just fooling himself – Jack would never properly like him, why would he? No one else had, not for the reasons that counted, and he knew that even the friendship they shared would be shattered when the captain found out what he was. Still, though, the relationship at least _felt_ more genuine than anything else he'd known, barring Lisa and her family's friendship. He could pretend if he wanted, couldn't he?

"Morning, Ianto," Jack called from the stove as the young man finished folding up the couch. That was the other thing – he'd never really moved out of the Hub. Jack had offered him the couch for as long as he wanted it, and the alien couldn't bring himself to refuse, knowing the privacy he had there.

"You as well," Ianto called back, his voice easily carrying across the Hub. "I'll get to the coffee in just a moment."

"I can get it started, if you wa-" Jack began to offer.

"Don't touch the coffee machine, Jack Harkness," Ianto quickly interrupted. Jack backed away from the machine with his hands in the air and after a beat, Ianto added, "Thank you for offering, though."

"Yeah, yeah," Jack laughed as Ianto raced to the rescue of the machine. A few days into Ianto's stay at Three, the older man had noticed his dislike of the machine and casually herded the alien into a department store after a minor Rift alert. Ianto had protested the new machine, at first, but Jack told him Three had a ton of money in the budget for food, since it had been just Jack for a year and now there were just two employees. Since then, the young man had become oddly obsessive about the coffee-maker, banning Jack from going near it since the man's first botched attempt that resulted in the worst-tasting coffee either had ever had. Ianto claimed the machine must just not like Jack, but the captain had a sense that his feelings were being spared.

"Here you are," Ianto set a mug on the table in front of Jack, sitting down to his own spot where the older man had put a plate with scrambled eggs (Jack was decent enough making food, just not coffee – a contrast to Ianto, who dared not attempt the oven after an incident involving a fire extinguisher, and had a grudging truce with the microwave).

Jack looked the younger man over for a moment. "Ianto?"

"Yep?"

The captain paused, then continued, "Do you have anything more than just that one bag?"

Ianto looked up for a moment before quickly returning to his food. "Uh, no. That's everything."

"Did you leave most of it back at your home in London? Do you need to get anything more? It's just, I got an email from Yvonne and she said there's some big discovery they made over there. Something about a Rift-like tear above Canary Wharf, right above One's building, actually. She said it's all hands on deck, they're building up to reach it – idiots, the lot of them, if you ask me, but she didn't listen. Anyway, she said you'd be here for a while longer, and I just figured you might want to get some more stuff? You probably didn't think you'd be out here so long. I'd say sorry but…well, I'm glad you're staying."

Ianto reddened a bit, both at the comment and that Jack had noticed his lack of clothing variety. "Er, that's all I have. I don't have a flat in London or anything."

The captain furrowed his brow, then sighed. "Is this another one of those things where you can't tell me much?"

"Yeah. Sorry."

"That's all right. What do you say to a shopping day? We can get you some more clothes and whatnot, look at flats for you? Unless, you know, you want to stay here. At the Hub. We could clear out a room, get a TV or something."

"That…that could be nice," Ianto said hesitantly. "I, uh, don't have money for much, though."

"What are you talking about, you've got plenty! Even if it's a One thing from before, you've been here for nearly a month and you haven't spent a dime, as far as I know - and besides, Torchwood pays well."

Ianto frowned a little. "But I'm not on the payroll. At least, I shouldn't be."

It was Jack's turn to frown. "Why not? You work here, don't you? Besides, Three's hardly broke. Come on, it'll be fun!"

Ianto reluctantly agreed and an hour later, the two were headed for the local mall.

* * *

The mall was bursting with people, and Ianto and Jack were milling through just like everyone else. The feeling was strange for the young man – whenever he'd gone out in a crowd before, he'd been trying to blend in. Between doing runs for his…whoever (what did he call Culhwch? His foster father? Adopted father? Hand-picked demon from hell?), as well as hiding from Torchwood and later doing missions for them, he wasn't used to walking about in a crowd without danger of some kind on his trail.

"You good?" Jack checked.

Ianto nodded shakily, attempting to squash the need to shift into don't-notice-me mode. The captain gave him an assuring smile, then slipped his hand into Ianto's, giving it a comforting squeeze. That was all the young man needed to steel his nerves and resist his need to disappear.

"Have you ever been to Debenhams? They'll have everything you need."

The young man followed Jack into the large department store, quickly pushing away memories of the one time Rhiannon had dragged him there to get money from Culhwch. The man hadn't been glad to see him at his work.

"Clothes first?" Jack suggested.

"Yeah, sure," Ianto agreed.

Jack looked the younger man up and down for a moment. "You'd look good in a suit."

"Do you think?"

"Definitely. Let's go see what they have."

In the end, Ianto ended up with three suits, several more dress shirts and ties, and a large pile of other clothes and shoes the two had picked out. It'd become a game, part way through; Jack would pick out the most ridiculous outfits he could find, then Ianto picked out a few new pieces and fit the whole thing together like a model. Jack had finally given up and just started giving the man the tightest fitting pants he could scavenge from the racks. The end result had been an entire new wardrobe and a hefty price tag that barely dented the money Jack claimed Ianto had earned at Three.

They'd also looked at the furniture and televisions, leaving with a rather large telly and several DVDs (they'd almost left without a player, but Ianto had remembered the need just before they checked out, thankfully). They'd loaded everything into the back of the SUV – it was a tight fit, which was slightly strange when one recalled that they often loaded several aliens into the back at one time without a problem. Before leaving, Jack had dragged Ianto back into the mall and they'd both gotten a mobile ("Comms are fine, Ianto, but cell phones are cool! Besides, if we're ever in a situation where we need to not be caught, we can text!" "Yes, because the light from the screens wouldn't give us away.").

As soon as the two got back to the Hub and unloaded everything, the Rift alert sounded and they were off again.

* * *

There was a Pteranodon. In a warehouse. A living, breathing, flying creature that hadn't existed on earth in millions of years.

"I'll distract it, you give it the injection," Jack suggested.

"Let's switch," Ianto said. "I've got a secret weapon."

Jack gave him a strange look.

"Chocolate, preferably dark. We got some at the mall, remember?"

The captain shrugged his agreement and Ianto carefully approached the winged creature. "I've got chocolate," he said and carefully slid the unwrapped treat towards the Pteranodon. "It's good for your serotonin levels. If you've…got serotonin levels."

The creature picked at the candy bar while Jack slowly approached. Suddenly, the Pteranodon screeched and picked Jack up, flying around the warehouse as the man struggled to inject the stunning agent. He succeeded after a few minutes and the creature dropped him. Quickly, Ianto moved to try to catch him, but the captain knocked them both to the floor. The Pteranodon followed a moment later, so Ianto rolled the pair over to avoid being crushed.

Both men started laughing, then suddenly seemed to realize how close they were to one another. They stayed there for a moment, then Ianto scrambled to his feet. "We should get her back to the Hub."

"Her?"

"Yeah, her name's Myfanwy."

"Myfanwy. I like it."

"Of course you do, it's a good name."

"Ianto?"

"Yea-" Ianto started to turn as Jack's hand caught his wrist. In half a moment, their lips met.

It was unlike any other kiss the young man had ever had. It was rough and gentle and longing and hopeful. Jack's hand came up to rest against Ianto's cheek and the captain pulled away a little. "I think Myfanwy can wait a few minutes."

The sound of a large semi pulling up outside the warehouse interrupted them, and the pair hurried to get the Pteranodon out to the SUV.

* * *

"That was nice," Jack said in the car.

"Yeah?"

"Very. We should do it again."

"If you'd like."

"Do you want to go for a movie and dinner tonight?"

"What, like the cinema? A date?"

"If you'd like it to be. I'd like it to be. But, you know, we could also just go as friends."

"Jack, if you want sex, just say so. You don't have to do all this, put on a façade."

Jack laughed, but there was something worrisome in his tone. "Did you offer that to every attractive person you met back in London?"

Ianto shrugged. "If they work for Torchwood, I can't really say 'no', can I? Everyone else had to pay, unless they had a deal with my…father."

The captain frowned. "Ianto, you know that's not…good, right? I mean, I'm all for sex, but not like that. That's just…that's not good."

"Well, it happened and it happens, so do you want sex or not?"

"No-well, yes, but no. I want dinner and a movie. And a healthy relationship that doesn't involve me using you like that."

Ianto gave Jack a strange look. "That's a…first, for me. Are you being serious?"

"Of course I am, I wouldn't joke about something like that. So what do you say? Was that a yes?"

"I-yes. Yes, I suppose."

Jack cheered and the SUV veered into the other lane, nearly hitting another car. Ianto joined in his laughter as the car honked angrily, and the rest of the drive back to the Hub was filled with easy conversation.


	6. Chapter 6 - A Series of Events 2

**The Anomaly (The Boy From Messaline)**

_A-World-Of-My-Imagination_

* * *

**Chapter Six – Flat Holm, a Visit, and a Reassurance**

_"And you see the things they never see_

_All you wanted I could be_

_Now you know me and I'm not afraid_

_And I want to tell you who I am…"_

_-I'm Still Here –Goo Goo Dolls_

* * *

It's amazing how fast a life can change, Ianto mused as he walked through the Hub. He was on a crusade to clean and make out a map of the building. There were entire levels that Jack had confessed he'd never even been on, so Ianto was determined to work the whole thing out. Now that he knew he would be at Three for a while, he wanted to know the place he'd be working as well as he could – he'd never been allowed to freely explore back at One, so he was milking the opportunity for all it was worth.

He'd been at Torchwood Three for nearly half a year, and hadn't detected any One agents since the first month. He was still staying quiet on a lot of things, not willing to risk Lisa's safety just in case, but the knowledge that he wasn't constantly being stalked (for the first time in his life!) was more liberating than he'd thought possible.

Jack was…strange, he decided. The man was more than willing to make comments and suggestions, yet it had taken Ianto finally exploding that he wasn't made of glass for Jack to make any good on them. The pair spent every waking moment with one another, between Torchwood business and going on dates (and Ianto was starting to separate the two, with Jack's help), and recently the hours of sleep (or other nighttime activities) as well. When the captain had found out that, while Ianto had an incredible knowledge of the backstreets and alleyways, he hadn't been to any of Cardiff's major landmarks, he'd made it his mission to take him to each and every one. The young man had never realized how amazing parts of the city and surrounding area could be, and he found himself thinking about the tourist office often, talking with the tour guides about brochures and the like.

For the first time, Ianto found himself wanting to share all his secrets, to just open up and tell them all. He was falling for the captain – he wasn't sure how it had happened, but one day, while in the SUV chasing after a Weevil and obnoxiously singing along to the radio with Jack, the song they were belting out had become about the older man. He'd gone quiet for a moment as soon as he realized, terrified and giddy at the same time. Jack had asked why he stopped singing and grabbed his hand, making the SUV maneuver dangerously. Since then, the young man had had the words of all his secrets just at the tip of his tongue, but had never managed to get them out. He kept giving himself the same excuses – _One would find out (they weren't even in Cardiff anymore), Yvonne said not to (and why did he care about her?), Jack would be in danger if he told him (he could take care of himself)_ – but he ignored the real reason. Ianto was absolutely terrified that, if Jack found out that he was an alien, the full extent of his childhood, all of it, the captain would say he was disgusting (because Ianto knew he was) and send him back to One. Life had been so much better since he'd started at Cardiff, so much better with Jack. Ianto couldn't bear to give it up until he was forced to, so every time he thought about telling the older man, he held back. Besides, Jack never introduced Ianto his boyfriend, just as his friend or his Ianto. The man probably didn't want to commit to someone like the alien; why would he?

The young man sighed and turned on the lights. Another set of cells. There were figures in these ones, though, there were-

His breathing escalated and Ianto quickly held his hand up to his ear.

"Jack?" Ianto called over the comms.

"Ianto! Is this an afternoon booty call? I love those, I dated this one girl who'd always-"

"Jack, there are…people down here. In the cells."

Ianto stared in horror at the bodies. There were three of them, all confined and rotting in the small cells.

"People? As in, humans?"

"Dead humans. Jack, I think you should get down here."

* * *

"Negative Rift spikes," Ianto tossed down a file a few hours later. "It doesn't just drop things off, it takes them. Those were the ones that came back through. They didn't know what to do about them, so they just kept them in the cells, like Weevils."

"How did I not know about this?" Jack demanded.

"Looks like it was a bit of a secret. Just the director ever knew about them, didn't want the knowledge getting out. Seems it takes a dozen or so people a year; only one or two come back out of those dozen."

"What do you think we should do?"

"Bit late for those guys down there. Maybe…we could keep an eye out for the people who come back through. We can't predict when it'll take people, just help the ones who come back."

"And what? Put them back in the cells to rot?"

"No, we can…start a facility. Hire a few nurses, tell them some story or another. From the notes, I don't think we can make them better, just keep them as comfortable as we can."

"Good idea," Jack agreed after musing it over for a moment. "Let's get started on that right away. There's this abandoned island, Flat Holm, it could work. There used to be an army medical base there, but no one remembers it much, it's not in any of the history books. A bit of renovation, try our hand at interior design?"

"I'll make some calls."

* * *

It didn't take long to set up the facility. The Rift was mostly quiet, and the medical base was still in decent condition. The pair spent a day cleaning it from top to bottom and hired on a woman, Helen, who took over furnishing and stocking Flat Holm. It was finished just in time – two women came back through the Rift in the middle of the night just a week after it was done. Ianto found their missing records and discovered that they were twins who had gone missing in the thirties. They were still only in their twenties, though, and had been tortured while they were gone. Helen had her hands full with them, but the twins ended up making surprisingly good progress, considering the notes that had been left by previous three directors, and decided to stay on as staff at the facility.

Ianto worked on the Rift predictor obsessively, getting it to give warnings nearly a week ahead of time and making a side program to alert when there was a negative Rift spike. The ones that took people were completely random, though, so they couldn't prevent them. The young man still kept a file on everyone who was taken by the Rift and was always on the lookout for people who came back through.

"This is bothering you," Jack observed one night.

"Yeah, it is," Ianto confirmed, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"Come on, Yan, take a break, you've been working on that program a week straight, you barely sleep. What's up?"

Ianto turned his chair around to face Jack. "I had an…experience with one of the tiny Rift pockets in London when I was younger. I guess I just figure if I can work some of this out, help these people, it might help me make sense of what happened."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I can't. Just leave it, Jack, I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Take a night off, though, come on. For me?"

The young man glanced back at the program he was working on, then saved it and shut off the computer. The grin on Jack's face was worth it.

* * *

"Jack? I'm off. Try not to destroy the Hub while I'm gone, that took ages to clean up last week."

Ianto wandered up to Jack's office, where the man was working on paperwork. He leaned against the door while he waited for Jack to respond.

"I'll do my best," the captain grinned. "Red is _definitely_ your color, wow."

The young man smiled back at him, thumbing the paper with the address on it in his pocket. He'd found the slip of paper with the woman from the hostage situation's phone number on it and decided to take her up on her offer, on a whim. They'd talked on the phone quite a few times, trying to work out a date, but things kept coming up.

"You say that every time, Jack," Ianto reminded him.

"Do I?" he responded innocently. "Well, then it must be true."

The young man shook his head with a laugh. "I've got to go, else I'll be late. If there's a Rift alert or a Weevil attack, call me."

"Will do. Have a good time, and I'll have this paperwork for the new SUV done and filed by the time you're back."

"Don't try to file it, Jack," Ianto sighed. "Remember last time? Just put it on the desk down in the Archives. In fact, that's the new system, just put everything on the desk and I'll sort it out. No offense, but it takes me two minutes to put something where it needs to be and two hours to figure out where you put everything. So just…don't."

"Fine. I guess I'll just have to watch another episode of Friends all by my lonesome, then, if I've got nothing else to do. I bet I can get all the way up to season three before you get back, then we'll have nothing to watch until we get to the store to pick up season four."

"Don't you dare. If you're so desperate for something to do, clean the Medical Bay. Sooner or later, we'll need it for something important. I'll see you tonight."

Ianto left out of the tourist office. He stopped by a small shop on his way over to pick up a bottle of wine for Alice and a stuffed little green man for Steven (he and Jack had watched Toy Story the other day, and both had smiled all the way through). The walk wasn't too long, thankfully – the SUV had broken down after Jack had driven it too fast for too long on a chase after a blowfish (not that Ianto could have driven it, anyway) – and he was soon nervously ringing the doorbell.

"Come in," Alice invited as she opened the door, Steven wailing on her hip. Her eyes were red-rimmed and her make-up had clearly been ruined with a feeble attempt to salvage it, but she tried to put on a brave face. "I'm sorry, the lasagna's still in the oven, the table isn't set yet, everything's a mess, and Joe had to…leave."

Ianto just smiled and held up the wine and the stuffed animal.

"Really?" Alice sniffed, looking at the little green man.

The young man glanced down at his hand with the stuffed alien and shrugged. "It seemed appropriate."

Steven stopped crying long enough to reach out a hand for the little green man.

"Here, let's trade," Ianto offered, taking Steven from Alice and giving her the bottle of wine. Steven seemed a bit upset for a moment, but quickly calmed when Ianto gave him the little green man. "I'll take the lasagna out of the oven – when it beeps, right? – and Steven here can show me where you keep all your dishes. Go take a few minutes. I insist."

Alice tried a smile and nodded. "Thank you."

The young woman fled up the stairs and Ianto headed into the kitchen with Steven. He spotted a playpen overturned in the adjoining living room and frowned for a moment before turning it back over with one hand. "In you go, Steven. I'm Ianto, by the way. Ianto."

"Yan!" the little boy repeated enthusiastically. The toddler plopped down and started playing with the little green man.

Ianto looked at the little boy fondly for a moment before turning to the kitchen. It was quick work to tidy up the table and counters (though he worried at the items strewn about and the broken coffee mug on the ground), and he got the table set rather fast as well. From there, he picked up the living room and stared at the oven for a long few moments as the timer worked its way down to 0:00. As soon as it did, he lunged in with the oven mitt he'd already donned and put the lasagna on the counter proudly. Success.

He glanced at the happily playing Steven and the tidied up kitchen and living room, talking randomly to the small boy as checked to make sure he'd finished. All was good. The young man surreptitiously took out his phone and sent a text to Jack.

_Just took lasagna out of the oven and didn't burn the house down. Congratulations are in order. –IJ_

That done, he looked again at Steven, who had apparently decided it was time for a nap; he was conked out in his playpen with the little green man clutched in his small arms.

Footsteps sounded from the staircase and Ianto looked up with a smile. Alice had composed herself rather well – she'd changed into a dressy skirt and blouse and had taken off the ruined eyeliner.

"Well, don't you look gorgeous," Ianto complimented the woman.

"Thank you," she bit her lip. "I'm sorry, thank you so much for doing this. We've barely met, and I've already got you to work."

"It was no trouble, really. Steven's so well-behaved, more than some grown adults I know," Ianto assured her, thinking of Jack's child-like glee when Ianto got McDonalds for lunch. "Besides, you gave me an opportunity to impress my…friend. He's convinced I'll melt down our entire office if I get near the oven again. Well, normally I'd agree with him, but I feel pretty accomplished in this situation."

Alice laughed weakly and collapsed into a chair. "Sometimes I wonder if anyone really knows what way's up and what way's down. I mean, everything in my life that seems like it's right has gone wrong, every person I think is honest tells me lies. It makes me start to wonder if lies are truths or if any word can be trusted. It just…it drives me insane, makes me go half mad just trying to wrap my head around it all."

Ianto sat in a chair next to her and listened to the woman's confusing words.

"My parents both used to work for Torchwood," she said after a pause. "That's how they knew each other. Mum left my dad when I was little, though, said he was dangerous, a freak. I believed her for years, on everything, that Torchwood just got people killed and didn't care about anything except the 'British Empire' or whatever. But then I saw what you did when those aliens were holding so many of us hostage. Without you - without Torchwood - Joe, Steven, and I would've been dead. The police couldn't have done anything, they _didn't_ do anything. I honestly thought they were going to leave us there to die until you showed up, and you saved us. How can I keep believing Torchwood's evil when my son would've been dead without you?

"And if my mum was wrong about that, what else could she have been wrong about? She's always said my dad's a freak who doesn't die, doesn't age, doesn't care about anyone. But what if she's wrong? I can't even imagine how I'd feel if Joe just up and left with Steven and I never saw him again, if he told him his whole life about how horrible I am. What if that's what my mum did to my dad? I don't even know his name, what he looks like."

Alice sighed, then shook her head. "Here I go again, spilling all my problems on you. I'm sorry, I meant to invite you over for a nice dinner, a thank you. Let's eat, and talk about happier things. Have you lived in Cardiff your whole life?"

Ianto gladly started on the lasagna, quickly whirling through his mind for a cover story. "Actually, no. I, uh, I lived in London until I was ten. One of my, er, guardians was Welsh, that's where I picked up the accent. I lived here for three or four years when I was a teenager, then back to London where I worked for Torchwood, and I was transferred out here a few months ago."

"No family, then?"

"I have a sort of foster sister, I don't talk to her often, then a few cousins and whatnot."

"Any special someone's out here or back in London?" Alice continued.

Ianto's mind jumped to Jack. "Er…sort of."

"I know that look," Alice pounced, seemingly eager to focus on Ianto and avoid thinking about her own life for a while. "It's more of a sort of. That's a love look. Go on, spill, who am I going to tell?"

The young man sighed. "It's really not anything like that."

Alice gave him a look.

"He's nice, a nice friend."

"A handsome nice friend?"

"Yes, a very handsome nice friend. What's your favourite movie?"

The duo spent the rest of the night chatting about trivial things, and Ianto ended up with a list of movies he promised to watch. It was midnight before they knew it, and Ianto decided he'd best be off.

"If you ever need someone to talk to, or to watch Steven or anything, just give me a call. And if Joe gives you anymore trouble, let me know right away. I can always come by if you need me to."

Alice gave Ianto a quick hug and he awkwardly returned it, only having been hugged a few times before, and all those by Jack. "Thank you so much, Ianto. You're welcome here any time. You should bring your 'friend' around for dinner sometime."

Ianto laughed. "I'll ask him. Talk to you soon?"

"You'd better. Are you sure you don't want a ride back to your home?"

"It's a short walk. I'd better get going, though. Thanks for supper," Ianto finished his farewells and started back to the Hub.

* * *

"Have a good time?"

Ianto yawned as he walked into the Hub. Jack was in the Medical Bay, cleaning up all the gunk that'd accumulated.

"Yeah, she's really nice. Had family in Torchwood, that's how she knew. She said you should come for dinner sometime, seems convinced we're together."

Jack finished up and threw his gloves in the bin. "Well, we are. Is…that a problem?"

The young man tried to calm his furiously beating hearts. "No, of course not. I just didn't think…I didn't realize you wanted…it's good. No problem. But, you know, you don't need to feel like you need to stop yourself from anything for me. I know I'm not that great."

Jack walked up to stand by the younger man. "Not that great? Ianto, you're amazing! You put up with me, make brilliant coffee, and are absolutely fantastic in bed. What's not to love?"

Ianto blinked. "Everything. I mean, I can't cook to save a life, I let that Weevil get away last week, and I'm hardly a good person to be around."

"We got the Weevil two minutes later, I'm a good enough cook for the both of us, and I wouldn't rather spend my time with anyone else. You're my best friend and my lover, and I have standards for those sort of things. You've blown all those out of the water, though; you're better than anyone I could have hoped for. Come on, Yan, trust me on this."

The younger man paused for a moment, unsure how to respond.

"How about this. Let's take a trip somewhere, anywhere, and I'll show you just how special you are to me. We can make a road trip out of it, it'll be fun!"

The alien floundered for a moment, then settled on, "We haven't got a car though."

"I called in a few favours. We'll have a brand new Torchwood SUV in three days, fully customized and stocked with a new set of guns and equipment."

Ianto blinked. "Wow, that's quick. Must have been some really big favours."

"They were. Got a few guys off the hook for having alien objects illegally. Took care of the case, fudged a few details on my report, now they owe me big time."

"Glad you're using your powers of blackmail for good."

Jack laughed, then took a hold of Ianto's hand. "You do believe me, don't you? That you're great?"

The young man hesitated, "I'm off to bed, you coming?"

Jack squeezed his hand and smiled at him. "Give me five minutes to get all this put away."

"Clock's ticking," Ianto smirked and headed off for the bathroom. That night, for the first time, Ianto began to think that maybe – just maybe – he wasn't such a horrible person after all.


	7. Chapter 7 - Another Surprise

**The Anomaly (The Boy From Messaline)**

_A-World-Of-My-Imagination_

* * *

**Chapter Seven – Another Surprise**

_Wise men say only fools rush in_

_But I can't help falling in love with you_

_Shall I stay? Would it be a sin?_

_If I can't help falling in love with you?_

_-I Can't Help Falling In Love With You, Elvis Presley_

* * *

"Jack?" Ianto called over the comms. "The Rift alert just went off, we've got to go."

"I'm in the garage," the man responded, sounding suspiciously gleeful. "The SUV's here, let's take it out for a spin!"

Ianto grabbed Jack's greatcoat and his own suit jacket (he'd taken to wearing them on some missions after they'd watched several James Bond movies) and hurried down to the garage. "Come on, Jack, we need to go."

The captain was leaning against a shiny black SUV, smirking proudly. "Told you it'd get here. Come on, you can have the first drive."

"Yes, congratulations. And thanks, but I can't drive, Jack, get in," Ianto hurried him, helping the man slide on his coat and getting in the passenger side.

"You can't drive?" Jack asked once they were hurdling towards the source of the Rift activity.

"Nope."

Jack paused, then grinned. "I'll have to teach you, then. The new guns are in that case in the back seat."

The young man pulled out two of the shiny black guns and checked them over. "Jack?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Why do the guns say 'Torchwood' on them?"

"Thought it might be nice, make them a bit personalized."

"Jack, we're a _secret_ organization."

The man shrugged. "No one's going to notice. Besides, too late to order them all over now."

Ianto studied the captain, then frowned. "You did the SUV as well, didn't you."

"Yep."

The young man rolled his eyes as the car screeched to a stop. Both men jumped out with guns drawn as they saw a Weevil leaning over a thrashing figure.

"Hey!" Jack called out. The Weevil looked their way for a moment, then returned to the figure. Quickly, Ianto shot the alien and it fell back dead.

"Quite the crack shot, Ianto," Jack observed.

"One of those things." The young man kneeled down beside the now-still figure. "He's still got a pulse, I need to concentrate."

"What-" Jack started.

"Shut up," Ianto snapped. He ripped apart the man's shirt and looked over the damage. It wasn't too bad, he could do this. He put his hands on the gooey wound, unperturbed by the gore, and closed his eyes. Concentrate, concentrate.

Slowly, the man's damaged skin began to mend shut as a greensilverwhite light enveloped the abused flesh. Soon, it seemed as though the man had never met the vicious Weevil. The man suddenly lurched and sat up, and Ianto grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Wha-wha-" the man gasped out, looking around wildly.

"You're all right, you're good," Ianto said quickly. "Deep breaths, you were mugged but my friend here got your wallet back, don't worry."

Jack saw one of Ianto's hands stick out with the man's wallet, and the captain grabbed it and knelt down beside the younger man. "Here you go."

The man slowly began to calm down and Ianto let go of his shoulders so he could sit on his own.

"There was…there was a creature, this thing, attacking me," the man spluttered out.

Ianto swore under his breath, then seamlessly changed his tactic. "I know, I know. Strange breed of…potato rat man. Imported from China. Helped the mugger out. You might've gotten scratched, I've got a pill here, it'll make you immune to anything you might've gotten. Don't worry, we're with the government, here's my badge, take it."

The man looked panicked and hurried to swallow the pill. Within a few moments, he was dazed and Ianto helped him stumble to his feet.

"What…what happened?" the man blearily asked.

"I'm afraid you were mugged," Ianto said, slipping easily into the role of concerned passerby. "I was just walking back from work when I saw the man tackle you. He didn't get away with anything. You might have a concussion, though, we're going to stop you off at the hospital."

Ianto wrangled the man into the back seat of the SUV, sighing at the TORCHWOOD emblazoned on the side, while Jack got and started the car.

"Another one of those things," Ianto said as Jack opened his mouth. "I'm afraid I'm a bit of a mystery."

Jack shrugged, "Always loved a good one of those."

It was a quick drive to the hospital, and Ianto told Jack to wait in the car while he ran the man inside – the parking lot was full.

On their way into the emergency room (which was bursting with people), the two bumped into a skinny man straightening a suit jacket over a gray tee shirt.

"Excuse me, you're a doctor, yeah?" Ianto asked the man, concern dripping into his voice. It wasn't all acted, either – Retcon and a concussion, apparently not a good mix. The man was mumbling gibberish to himself and staring up at the sky. "He's, uh, got a concussion. I'm not entirely sure what to do."

The skinny man nodded and grabbed a hold of the man to steady him. He studied him for a moment, then nodded. "Training to be, not quite there yet, but I can help. Yeah, looks pretty bad to me. Something might be seriously wrong. I just got off shift, the office I was in will be empty. I can do him there. This isn't the sort of thing you should keep waiting."

"Thank you very much," Ianto said. He was getting more and more worried as the man picked up his voice and started singing in the same gibberish as before. He and the skinny man helped the alien attack victim into the hospital, through some hallways and into a private room. The skinny man turned on the lights and directed the man to sit down on the examination table.

_Might have to stay a bit longer. Serious side effect with the concussion and the Retcon. Need to figure out what went wrong to fix it. Pick me up in an hour if you can't find parking? -IJ_

"How do you know him?" the skinny man asked, handing over a clipboard and a pen before shrugging on his lab coat.

"I don't. He was being mugged on the street, my friend and I stepped in to save him. He seemed a bit off, so we took him here and I figured I'd better stay for a while."

"Yeah, that was good. Don't want to think about what he might've gotten into on his own."

The skinny almost-doctor started examining the loopy man while Ianto started on the tedious paperwork. Luckily, most of the information it needed was in the man's wallet (and the skinny man didn't say anything when Ianto took said item out of the man's pocket) and he could make a close guess on the rest.

_ No parking for a mile, sorry. See you in an hour – movie tonight, road trip starting tomorrow? ;) -JH_

"Looks like more than a usual concussion to me, he's been tampered with or something. Were there any toxic fumes over where you found him? I need you to think really hard, this could make or break his mental sanity for the rest of his life."

Ianto deliberated for a moment, then took the pack of Retcon out of his pocket. "I gave him this. I'm with the…secret service, he got caught up in a matter of national security. Compound B67, wipes a mind clear of a certain amount of time, depending on how much someone takes."

The skinny man took one of the offered packs and opened it to look at the pill. "What's in this?"

The alien quickly listed off the components and the almost-doctor started rummaging around in the cabinets and pulling out different bottles.

_ Sounds good, what time does the movie start? Not sure if there'll be any cleanup with this one, better safe than sorry on time. –IJ_

"This should do it," the skinny man announced, siphoning the liquid into a syringe. "Whatever's in there was not a good mix with a concussion, Mr. Secret Service. Best be more careful how you use it."

"We will be." Ianto saw the man slowly come back to his senses. "Thanks. How'd you do that?"

The almost-doctor shrugged and walked Ianto through the steps of making the solution. "I didn't catch your name, by the way."

"I'm Jones. Ianto Jones. And you are?"

"Owen Harper, soon to be Dr."

"Not from Cardiff, are you almost-Dr. Harper?"

"Nah, just doing a program out here for a bit. I'm from London."

Ianto nodded. "Well, thank you very much for your help, Owen Harper. It was good to meet you. If you're interested, my…organization might call on you for some consulting work. Here's my number, text me if you're interested. I'll get him home, thanks again."

The skinny man checked through the paperwork quickly. "All good, you're welcome. No more dangerous amnesia pills, yeah?"

"Yeah," Ianto agreed, bidding the skinny man one last goodbye and supporting the man out to the curb after waving off the almost-doctor's efforts to help. "You already spent an hour after you were done helping out, go home, call your girlfriend or whoever you have."

"Yeah, all right. See you, Jones."

Ianto sat on the curb with the man who was now dozing on his shoulder.

_Done. The guy's good, hiring? Gave him my number, said he'd be a good consultant. Might have some snags, though, gf back in London, far as I can tell. –IJ_

_ Be there in a minute. Bummer, would be nice to have a real medic. –JH_

The SUV pulled up a moment later and Ianto got the man into the seat again and gave Jack his address, found in the man's wallet. They got him home and inside to his wife without much trouble, then were off back to the Hub.

* * *

"How do you know if you love someone?"

"Usually when you start to ask yourself that question."

The young man groaned and ignored Steven's high-pitched giggle. He'd been at Three for a year and he was visiting Alice. The pair had become good friends in the half a year since they'd met, though whenever they made plans to introduce Alice to Jack, something came up.

"This is stupid, it's not like he'd ever love me back. Why did this happen?"

Alice laughed, "I think you might be surprised, if the stories I've heard about the great Captain Jack are true. Falling in love isn't a bad thing, you know."

"It is when I'm me," Ianto countered. "I'm…I've got a…commitment to Torchwood London. I could be called back any time and never see him again."

"And that's your excuse for avoiding happiness?"

"Stop being a philosopher and just sympathize with me."

"No can do. Tell you what, just tell him. I bet you ten quid he'll say it back."

"But he won't mean it," Ianto sighed morosely.

"When did you become such an angsty teenage girl? Suck it up! Stop being all depressed, you'll make Steven cry. Come on, what do you say? Ten quid?"

"But-"

"No buts, just do it. For me?"

The man rolled his eyes, then admitted defeat. "Fine. But if he freaks out and fires me, I'm moving in with you until I have to go back to London."

"Full time babysitter? Now I'm almost hoping he fires you!"

"Shut up," the alien laughed and picked up Steven. "I'm already on call to babysit all the time."

The blonde-haired boy hit Ianto in the face with his little green man and Alice took her child. "I think it's time for his nap. Bring Jack around on Saturday, if you can make it, then I can get your ten quid from you."

The young man laughed again and said his goodbyes.

* * *

He hadn't told him. Why hadn't he told him? He was an idiot, such an idiot.

It was pouring rain, drenching Ianto's suit and plastering his hair to his forehead, but he didn't care. Crimson blood ran down the cobblestone in the alleyway, and three Weevils with bullets clean through each of their foreheads laid dead several feet away. One of the Torchwood guns had been slung into a deep puddle, rendering it useless, and Ianto sat with Jack's body clutched in his arms, tears running down his face.

"I'm so sorry, Jack. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I couldn't do anything."

They'd been in pursuit of some Weevils and had split up when they lost the trail. Ianto hadn't found them and was headed back to the SUV when he head Jack's yell of pain and the strange roaring sounds of the Weevils. His hearts had started beating faster than they ever had and he'd raced around to find the captain, following the sound of his yells.

It had taken him what felt like hours to find the man, and when he'd gotten there he'd seen three Weevils attacking the captain. Ianto had shot the Weevils without a thought and raced down to Jack, but the man was nearly dead. He'd tried to fix him, heal him, but it didn't work and Jack just gave him a pained smile and said it would be okay. The young man had shaken his head – how could it be okay, when Jack was going to die and Ianto couldn't do a thing to help him? The alien had kept trying to fix the captain, but it still didn't help. As Jack had closed his eyes and his breathing got more and more ragged, Ianto had choked out that he loved him and Jack had managed one of his grins through his agony. He'd croaked back a _Love you too, Yan_ before he closed his eyes and slipped away, leaving Ianto holding his dead body.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Ianto cried.

He sat there for an undeterminable amount of time, unable to process anything. Suddenly, the body in his arms gasped and Jack's chest had started heaving. Ianto had just sat there, tear tracks still on his cheeks, staring at the Captain's reanimated body.

"Told you it would be okay," Jack laughed hoarsely, and Ianto shook his head in disbelief.

"How…you were dead."

"Hey, come on, some measly Weevils can't take down Captain Jack Harkness."

"But they did," Ianto insisted. "You died, and I couldn't save you, and…"

Jack carefully sat up and hugged the young man. "Something happened a long time ago, and I can't stay dead. I'm…really old. Probably too old for you-"

"No you're not," Ianto cut in.

"Yes I am, but what can you do. That's why you couldn't help, whatever keeps me alive probably countered your thing."

Ianto hugged Jack back. "Don't do that to me again."

"No promises, not if it means keeping you safe. Did…did you mean it, though?"

The young man knew what he was talking about right away and ducked his head. "Yeah, I did. But it's okay if you didn't mean it back. In fact, it's probably better if you didn't. There's…stuff about me that would make you hate me, so I get it."

"I meant it," Jack cut off his ramblings.

"You did?"

"How could I not?"

Ianto smiled, then frowned again. "This doesn't get you off the hook for doing that to me. You should've said something before you died!"

"Right, sorry. No more secrets," Jack promised and Ianto looked down guiltily.

"Jack, I-"

"Yours are fine, don't worry about it," the captain assured him. "Maybe someday you'll be able to tell me. Come on, I'm starving!"

Ianto helped the man to his feet and kissed him hard. They had gathered up the Weevil's bodies and were halfway back to the Hub when Ianto swore.

"Now I owe Alice ten quid!"


End file.
